There is a 542 SBD/RU difference between the fleets, in Nespis' favor. That does not include fighters._________________
Supreme Commander of the Central and Southern Galactic Segments, Director of Imperial Intelligence

"Ahoy, men!" cried Velora, pacing the bridge in her pirate hat, "And women! There'll be a pint of grog to the man - or woman - who destroys the first Imperial ship, yarr! Glorious Comrade Stresemann has decreed we must defeat the enemy here! Harr!"

"What are your orders, Cap'n?" asked the XO.

"Yarr," said Velora, then dropped her accent, "All ships deploy fighters. Moen will target the Cheese with all turbolasers and ion cannons, and fire a full barrage of concussion missiles at the Kermit. Oyelowo and two Nespis-class ships will target that IMC platform. Roflmao will hang back and take firing telemetry, triangulate targetting data and enemy response patterns, then feed it to the rest of the fleet. Good luck... me hearties."_________________
-Grand Admiral, Chief of Staff of Nespis Defence Force-

"Inbound Nespian cruisers, range is one million kilometers," the fleet XO reported as he scanned the tactical data. One eye peered at the glowing letters on the display screens. The other was gone, its cavity covered by an eyepatch. As he peered up at the fleet admiral, he suddenly felt frozen, as if he were no longer in control of his actions. The blaster pistol at his hip seemed to coax his hand to it...

The fleet admiral stared at him as the barrel of the blaster was pointed at his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

The executive officer smiled in disturbing dichotomy with actions. "Nothing, sir. I've never felt better in my entire life," he beamed as his finger squeezed the trigger. The crimson bolt connected with the admiral's right eye, and he fell dead. The officer looked at his betraying hand and the smoking weapon clutched in its grip, and started to scream--

"Order all ships to close to seventy-five thousand kilometers so we can engage with missiles and ion cannons," the fleet admiral ordered.

The executive blinked. His pistol was still in the holster and the admiral's eye, face, and head were still intact. "As you command, sir!"

"And have the IMC target Moen and fire! All ships are to focus turbolasers on the Nespis flagship while closing. Venators, launch all fighters," the admiral continued, unaware of his subordinate's daydreams.

As the Imperial fleet moved in and engaged the forces of Nespis, the IMC-2000 gun blasted the Moen squarely with a powerful bolt. Nonetheless, the pocket dreadnought's shields held.

Its comrades struck back, blows from Oyelowo and the Nespises breaking through the depleted shields and reducing the gun platform to superheated debris. In the melee, fighters poured from the five Venator-class Star Destroyers, bombers and interceptors surrounding the old ships in a shrieking swarm while their motherships blasted at the Moen with its heavy batteries.

The Akulas engaged as well, raking the enemy flagship with a devastating barrage. Several bolts streaked by and into deep space, but most found their mark. But the Nespian guns were on target as well, with Cheese being savagely pummeled by turbolasers. However, her sister ship was too far out for ion cannons or missiles to engage, and the energized bolts dissipated to nothingness while the missiles self-destructed when their fuel ran out.

Nevertheless, the accuracy of the Nespian ships were helped by the data from Roflmao. However, the Imperials were able to detect the detailed scans as they closed in to 997,000 kilometers.

Velora felt the bridge rock and cursed. She turned to the tactical officer and spoke her new orders as calmly as possible. "I want all ships to set shields to double front. I also want every ships except for the Roflmao and Moen to increase speed to full, get us as close as possible. Prepare the fighters for close-in defence. I want 3 Nespises and 2 Vigilants to target the Cheese and fire turbolasers, reroute power from the ion cannons if at all possible, and remember to feed your telemetry back to Roflmao to help her calculations. This isn't over yet."

Last edited by Velora Antana on Fri, April 11th 2008 03:39am; edited 1 time in total

"Order the second wave of fighters launched!" bellowed the fleet admiral. "Continuing closing with the Nespis dogs! And order the Tectors to fire on that damned flagship!"

The two fleets crawled toward each other, fighters spilling from Venators as turbolaser fire flew between both fleets. The heavy dorsal batteries and various other emplacements of the Tectors pounded the Moen. Nespian guns slammed into the Cheese while the rest of the fleet closed in. The shields on the pocket dreadnought held against the onslaught.

And more ominously, the distance between the lead elements of the two fleets reduced to 985,000 kilometers._________________
Supreme Commander of the Central and Southern Galactic Segments, Director of Imperial Intelligence